Cross My Heart

Watching Josline adapt to motherhood was a very strange, but amusing site to see. Josh adapting to fatherhood was even more amusing than it should of been. Josh, for the first day or two, acted like Finley was a bomb, and if Josh touched him, Finley would start crying. Which, was mostly true. Finley would cry more when Josh had him then when Josline had him.

Mom and dad showed up and almost immediately, mom started saying how much Finley looked like Josh. I think Josh was a little freaked out, but flattered at the same time. Dad, however, said Finley looked like Josline. Everyone seemed to be divided on who Finley looked like. I was the only one who thought Finley had a good mix of both Josline and Josh. Finley had Josh's eye colour, but Josline's eye shape. He had Josh's ears, and Josline's nose. I wasn't quite sure who's facial structure he had, because both Josline and Josh had fairly thin faces. But nonetheless, Finley was a cute baby.

Josline was out of the hospital 3 days after Finley was born, and she said that the first night at home was the worst. She called me at 4 in the morning, some how KNOWING I would be awake at that un-Godly hour. But over the next 2 months, she really started to get the hang of things. Josh had finally moved in with her, which I didn't understand. I considered them practically married.

Marque and I hadn't even begun to plan our wedding. We were still completely content with being engaged. I wouldn't be surprised if Josline and Josh didn't get engaged. I'm not saying their relationship would fail, because they had to have one of the most stable, but dysfunctional relationships I had ever seen. And I was actually extremely happy for the two of them. They had been through so much in the last little while, it was amazing they were actually still together. But, I guess it goes to show that if two people love each other enough, they make it work.

Marque and I had been getting out and socializing more with others. Marque met one woman, Josie, who seemed to be really nice. She had invited Marque and I to dinner at a vegan restaurant, because Marque had mentioned that he was vegan. Marque was standing in the bathroom, attempting to style his hair. His hair had the tendency to just lay flat. I was going through the clean laundry for a shirt. “Hey Airin?” Marque called.

“Yeah?” I said, picking up a plain white t-shirt. “What is it?” I pulled the shirt over my head and walked into the bathroom. Marque's hair was standing up in awkward ways. I smiled and starting fixing his hair slightly.

“Why don't we invite Keith along?” Marque asked. I thought for a moment, it sounded like a good idea.

“Yeah, sure. He'd probably LOVE to get out of his house. I know I would.” I said grimly. Marque frowned slightly. I finished fixing Marques hair, and he smiled at me.

“Why don't you go call him?” Marque said. “I'll be waiting in the car.” Marque kissed me and walked out of the bathroom. I heard the front door close, then I took out my phone and dialed Keith's number. I walked out into the living room, looking for my shoes.

“Hello?” Keith's answered.

“Hey Keith. What are you up to?” I asked him.

“Not really anything.” Keith responded. “Why?”

“Do you want to go out to dinner with me and Marque tonight? Our friend Josie invited us, and she's new in town, so it would be best if she got acquainted with some people. “ I said. I heard Keith mumble a few things to himself.

“Yeah, okay. I've got nothing better to do.” I smiled and told Keith where the restaurant was.

Marque and I got to the restaurant a few minutes before Keith did. We walked inside, it wasn't very busy. Josie, tall, brunette, slim. She was on the hippie side as well. She was an environmental biologist, plus, she was extremely smart, and always on top of everything. She seemed to have near perfect control of her life. She also had a son, Trevor. I hadn't met him, but the way Josie described him, he was great.

The door jingled open and I looked back at it. Keith was standing there. I waved at him, and Keith smiled. He was looking a lot happier than a few days ago. His bruises on his face weren't visible anymore. I pulled out another chair for him and he sat down. “Oh, Keith, this is Josie. The woman I was telling you about.” Keith smiled at her.

“Nice to meet you Keith.” Josie smiled at him.

“You too.” Keith said. I smiled at Keith. He seemed to perk up when Josie spoke to him. “So what do you do Josie?” Keith asked when the waitress asked what he'd like to drink.

“Environmental biologist.” Josie smiled at him, taking a sip of her tea. “What about you? I mean, I know you're in Ellaries Dollhouse, but Airin mentioned you were in university for a while.”

“I have a minor in Bio-chemistry. I have a major in Business management.” Keith said.

“Wow, that's impressive.” Josie said. “So why pursue a career that you have now?”

“I don't know. Airin just brought up the idea of it one day, and I went with it. If ED didn't exist, I'd probably be teaching some kind of science in high school.” Keith smiled. I could tell this was going to be a good dinner.

The rest of dinner went by smoothly. Josie brought up Keith being married when she noticed his wedding band. Keith just smiled, but I could tell there was some kind of pain hiding behind his smile. He wasn't happy with Olivia, and anyone could see that. But no matter what, he wouldn't give her up. He was too scared of being alone. As soon as Keith mentioned Olivia's name, his phone started ringing. When he answered, all I could hear was Olivia's drunken yelling, but I couldn't pick apart any words. Keith excused himself and went outside.

“Is everything alright?” Josie asked, looking a little concerned.

“Knowing that Harpy of a voice. No.” Marque said. Keith walked back in and grabbed his coat off the back of his chair.

“I'm sorry, but I have to leave. It was really nice to meet you Josie.” Keith smiled apologetically at her. I watched Keith exit the restaurant, a feeling of dread fell over me.

I knew something terrible was just about to happen to Keith.